


Cat got your Tongue

by Phantom_Queen



Series: Synchronicity [1]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bantering, F/M, Flirting, Kissing, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Sexual Content, Surprise Kissing, Swearing, Teasing, Thief, mild violence, possible series, powered original characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:54:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22959742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_Queen/pseuds/Phantom_Queen
Summary: We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.Fyodor DostoyevskyWhen a thief crosses paths with a former assassin.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Synchronicity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649947
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Cat got your Tongue

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to take a step back from editing the next chapter of my main story. It started off as a one shot, but I can see lots of scene's playing in my mind for my original character, so when time permits, or I need a breather from my main series, and the secondary series I am working on then I will indulge with this. 
> 
> Any mistakes are mine alone. - Summary is from a quote I really like.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

Kate surveyed the ballroom making a mental note of each security guard that was currently circling the room. Sipping at her champagne and plastering a smile on her lips whenever someone looked her way. She was just another nameless face dressed in a designer dress with fake glittering jewellery donning her neck.

Her date, a man who was old enough to be her father and should have absolutely brought his wife to the event, was busy talking to his business partners that would be to dull for her to listen to. If she hadn't been using him to score entrance to the ball, she would have been insulted at the implication she was nothing more than a piece of eye-candy. Except that she wouldn't, because she _used_ that to her advantage more times than she cared to count, and more fool the idiots that didn't see past it. 

Satisfied that nobody was paying attention to her, she ducked out of the main ballroom, offloading her empty glass to the nearest waiter, and into the more silent corridors of the rest of the house. She took her time to admire the artwork as there were still one or two people that were mulling about, clocking the two guards ahead. They would prevent guests from going into the personal, off-limits areas of the home.

Without even acknowledging them, she slipped into the restroom and locked the door behind her, glancing towards the ceiling, she zeroed in on the air vent. Exactly where the blueprints had said they would be. 

Smiling to herself, she reached for the bottom of her dress designed with two slits running down the either side, blending in with the fact she had leggings on underneath, each half of the slit could be pulled up around the top half of her body and with a zip invisible to the eye as a dress allowed her to wrap it securely into place as though she was wearing a jacket with sleeves. Creating a catsuit style outfit that would allow her to move around comfortably. 

Slipping off one of her heeled shoes, she twisted the silhouette before pulling it out from the pump to reveal a small plastic screwdriver, undetectable by the metal detectors they had walked through to gain entry. 

_Always come prepared,_ she mused before standing on the bathroom sink and unscrewed the bolts around the air vent. She returned the heel to her shoe and pushed them into the vent. 

_Leave no trace behind._

She went back to the door, listened to ensure no one was coming before unlocking it so not to arouse suspicion, before climbing back onto the sink. With years of practice, she slithered into the duct. There was just enough room to allow her to twist around to lean out and reach for the vent grate to allow her to pull it up.

Fitting it back into place now came the tricky part. Focusing on her breathing, she found her centre; relishing in the cool flow of power running through her veins as she gathered it to her will and concentrated on the vent grate, pressing her hand to the seal she let that power, that energy in her trickle out. Not too much, just enough to freeze the vent into place and seal the opening behind her. 

_Eat your heart out Elsa._

Turning again so she could see where she was going she inched forward slowly. She didn't have time to travel through the duct system all the way to her destination. All she needed to do was get past the doors the guards were guarding. More silently than before she pried open the second vent she came to and dropped stealthily onto the carpeted floor. Kate paused for a moment to make sure that her landing hadn't raised the alarm before slipping her shoes back on and crept down the hall. 

Kate passed through a doorway and into an extensive study of luxurious dark wood furniture gleamed. Objects and books cluttered the room. She surveyed the surroundings with a critical eye before crossing to the desk, moving around to the other side. She was alert to triggering silent alarms, and sure enough, there hidden out of sight to the unwary was a small device pinned to the wall. A motion sensor. 

Kate knew she could freeze it, bring it down to a temperature so cold it couldn't function, but that would leave evidence behind. Besides, she had more than one trick up her sleeve. Finding her centre again she focused the energy on herself rather than outward, it gave the sensation that she had just stepped into a cold shower, her skin prickling at the biting coldness, but it allowed her to wrap a sort of blanket around her. Her body temperature dropping so it wouldn't register her heat, the air shimmering around her so she wouldn't be visible. Almost as though she was a ghost, despite being very solid and very real.

Kate had never really understood her abilities or even her true capabilities. She didn't like loud or flashy. She preferred subtle and discreet and considering her chosen career, those skill sets were vital to her success so beyond what would be useful to her she had never explored them in any great detail. Instead, she had focused on control, a key element she couldn't afford to lose ever. 

Without hesitating, she stepped past the motion sensor. No alarm sounded, no guards came crashing in. Letting go of her power, she knelt down by the safe that was built into the drawers on one side of the desk.

Reaching for the dial, she started the process of turning it, letting her instincts guide her to the right numbers. It was an old school safe, Max Crowley preferred old to the new in some things, a smile crossed her lips as the safe finally clicked open and she was able to pull the door open. 

_A job well done._

Two metal shelves held some paper money, passport, contracts, old coins, an ugly looking dagger that Kate could tell was a replica of some sort and not the real thing, before she finally settled on the memory stick. 

_Bingo._

Swiping the stick, she tucked it into the concealed pocket in her catsuit, closed the safe door and twisted the dial to lock it.

"Neat trick," a voice drawled in the shadows. 

Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart pounded beneath her chest. 

"Stand up."

Kate bristled at the order, but followed it none the less, slowly rising. Her eyes narrowing as she took in the person standing opposite her. _Man_ , she corrected. He was tall, a lot taller than her, wearing all black tactical gear like a walking cliché, not that she had room to talk she was wearing a catsuit for a burglary. He was broad shouldered and muscled giving her the distinct impression of a predator dressed up as a man. At least six foot and powerfully built the man radiated an energy to him she couldn't help but feel. His hair was long just an inch of his shoulders and framed chiselled face with a sexy dusting of a beard on a sculpted jaw, and his eyes an intense blue. They were currently scrutinising her from head to toe. 

In normal circumstances, she would flash a smile, add a little charm and dazzle her way out of the situation confident in the fact that whoever had caught her in the wrong place was too stupid to see past the pretty face. But from the hardening of his eyes, that wasn't going to work in this case. There was a dangerous glint to them, a calculating ruthlessness that made her search for an answer she usually avoided. 

Kate usually avoided violence if she could help it, not because she couldn't defend herself, far from it, but because in her opinion, a thief who used force to achieve their goals was sloppy. There was an art to her line of work, and she was an artist. 

"Something tells me you aren't going to believe I got lost on the way to the restroom," she smirked. 

He gave her a look, taking a step closer. Clearly not a big conversationalist. 

"How did you get past the guards?" she asked, half out of interest and half to allow her time to come up with a plan. She was usually quick on thinking on the fly, but she needed a few precious seconds to gather her thoughts. 

"How did you?"

"I will tell if you will," she teased, taking a step away from the desk. If she triggered the motion sensor then the guards would come and investigate. It would be problematic for her as well, but it would be for him to. They would see him as the bigger threat after all. 

"Back entrance," he said gruffly.

"Air vent."

His eyebrow rose in interest, and a slither of curiosity crossed his eyes. 

"Hand it over." 

"Hand what over?"

Another look, this one with a touch of heat that almost made her shiver. She wasn't one to lose her head over a pretty face, but eyes were a weakness of hers, and this guy whoever the fuck he was, had eyes that could make her purr. She could almost imagine those heated eyes looking at her in a completely different scenario.

Fuck it had been a while since she had got laid and come to think about it when was the last time she had any sort of primal reaction to a man. Her libido was still alive and well, making its presence known as the image of their bodies withering together popped into her head. _Now,_ really wasn't the time. She had a job to do, and getting out of this situation with the memory stick was her main priority. No one's rediscovered libido.

Not to mention the order, she didn't take orders from anyone. Not anymore, not ever again - that shut her libido up. Except it really didn't. 

"How typically male, let the woman do all the hard work and then sweep in to take all the credit," she sniped, "I don't think so."

"I don't want to hurt you," he warned, taking a step closer, raising a gun as he did so. 

Well that complicated things, except that it didn't. 

"I wouldn't worry about hurting me, I would worry about hurting yourself," she threatened, taking a side step.

"Don't-"

She passed the motion sensor, the alarm blaring to life instantly, she gave him a sheepish look, "Opps."

Her pulse raced as her mind whirled, the heavy drape in front of the window would hold her weight, she could use that to ease herself down from the balcony. That was doable. 

Not that she had time to really think, the guards were already bursting into the room, guns drawn lining them both in their sight before firing. A blur of movement, the guy launched himself over the desk, knocking her to the ground as bullets flew through the air. His body pressed against her, and she was all too aware of heat radiating from him, overwhelming her senses. Their gazes locked for a second, and Kate swallowed the lump forming in the back of her throat.

Okay, so maybe triggering the alarm wasn't the best course of action, but honestly how was she to know the guards would shoot first ask questions later. 

"Give me the memory stick," he growled at her, anger visibly swirling in his eyes. 

"Not-fucking-likely," she snarled at him. 

He let out a hiss pushed off her, so he was kneeling, her body stuck between his legs, before swiftly firing his own shots at the guards. From the grunts and cries, Kate was presuming that he was a far better shot than they had been. 

A second later, he was yanking her to her feet, and she became painfully aware of metal gripping her right hand.

_Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. Bucky Barnes, former Winter Soldier. Avenger._

She may not use her abilities for good, but she wasn't criminal enough to even register on their radar. Except she had now, or maybe it was just a coincidence, and they were after the same thing. Either way, Kate wasn't going to give up without a fight, not when she needed that memory stick. 

He pulled her along to the door, as though she was some helpless child, and peered around. She glanced at the wounded guards and their weapons that lay discarded. 

"Don't even think about it," he warned. 

She wasn't, she didn't do guns, not that she didn't know how to use them. She just didn't like them. Letting out a curse, he pulled back and shut the door, letting go of her arm to allow him to move a chair under the doorknob. 

"Wilson, I have a problem," he said, speaking to what Kate could only presume was a radio, before fixing her with a glare, "You just had to trigger the alarm didn't you?" 

Kate squared her shoulders and glared at him, "Me, I was doing fine until you showed up and screwed everything up."

"You should have checked the room more thoroughly."

"I know how to sweep a room!"

"Clearly," he snorted, "Except you didn't see me, did you."

He had a point there, she hadn't seen him, and damn it that mistake was on her. But it also meant he had seen what she could do, at least in part and that was fucking disastrous. Discretion was how she had kept under the radar for as long as she had. It was the only way she could stay safe. Without warning he reached for her, too quick for her to dodge, he patted down her suit, ignoring her "Hey," before he found the concealed pocket and removed the memory stick. 

"Asshole!" she hissed at him. 

"Doll, you don't know the half of it. I just saved your life. The people you would have pissed off with this thing would have eaten you up and then spat you back out once nothing was left."

Anger simmered beneath her skin, and the precious control she had prided herself on stretched and strained. Energy rippled across her skin, searching for a way out, for a way to break free from the restraints she had put on it. The implication that she needed saving, that she needed rescuing, that she didn't know precisely who Max Crowley was set her teeth on edge. She had rescued herself long ago, she didn't need anyone to do it now. 

The glass cracked and shattered a wakeup call she needed to reign in her temper and control. She couldn't lose control. Not now, not ever. She swallowed her anger, the bitter acid on her tongue, but she swallowed it all the same.

"I. Do. Not. Need. _You_. To. Save. My. Life," she snarled at him. Pulling away from him. She eyed the window now free from glass. She could make her escape, and he wouldn't be able to stop her, except her pride wouldn't allow her to leave without the memory stick. 

She didn't give in. Ever. 

Kate turned to face him, slumped her shoulders slightly, giving the impression she had no more energy left in her. She wasn't sure he bought it for a second, but she noticed his own stance relaxed a little. 

_More fool him._

"Right, my people are clearing a path for us, we can meet them in the middle, and we may just get out of this alive."

Kate nodded, she had no intention of following him out of the door, no intention of going anywhere with him. Her own plan already formed in her mind, she just needed that memory stick. 

He moved the chair back out of the way, and grabbed her, pulling her close to him. She fitted into the shape of his body almost too easily, and while he was wearing tactical gear and had more pockets and gear to him, Kate was very aware of how hard his body was. He looked down at her. 

"On my count," he said firmly, "One. Two. Three." He opened the door.

Kate reached up and kissed him. Not a light kiss, she kissed like she did everything. All heart and soul and fire. She caught him by surprise, his mouth yielding to her will, as she teased and tasted. He didn't push her away when his mind caught up if anything he pulled her that little tighter to him, and soon it was a battle of wills, a battle of dominance between them. Fire travelled through the raw eroticism of the kiss to curl her toes and pool between her thighs. Every nerve in her body alight and hungry. But as much as she could lose herself in that kiss, let the world burn around her, she didn't allow it to distract her from her task. 

She pulled back stepping out of his gasp, a smile crossing her lips, to see the wide-eyed startled look in his, as he stared at her.

"What's the matter cat got your tongue, Barnes?" she purred, before pushing him out into the hall. Holding up the memory stick in her hand, his eyes hardened as realisation dawned on him and he made a move for her. Kate smirked, ready for him this time and slammed the door in his face. Using a tickle of power she froze the door shut. The need for subtle having long since gone. 

"Pillock," she huffed, ignoring the curses through the door, or the way the door shuddered as he slammed his body into it.

Turning on her heel, she scurried towards the broken window, grabbing the heavy drape as she passed and stepped out onto the balcony. A glance down told her it wasn't that large of a drop. Kate glanced towards the door over her shoulder, Barnes had stopped trying to break it down, either distracted with the guards or continuing with his plan. Turning her attention back to her task at hand, Kate climbed over the edge of the balcony, and scuffled down, using the drape as support until she could just drop down barely making a sound on the soft grass. 

She reached for her power, knowing that she would pay the price later for using it so much this evening, and wrapped the air around her making her invisible to any observer and walked around the house to the front entrance. It didn't take her long to unravel the dress so it flowed again, dropped her power and blended smoothly into the panicked crowds that were being ushered out of the house. 

Kate slipped in next to her _date_ a smile gracing her lips as she snuggled in closer.

"What's happened, I went to the restroom and then I heard the alarms?" she asked, ensuring her eyes portrayed the picture of innocence with a hint of fear. 

"We don't know. Alarms started, and we were being ushered out," he answered her, an arm wrapping around her waist. 

Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead leant her head against his shoulder as they made their way towards his car. 

All things considered, it was a job well done, she just needed to get back to the hotel, ditch her date, get on her bike so she could leave this city by sunrise.

* * *

"Do you want to run that one by me again?" 

Bucky swallowed the wince as Sam dug out a bullet in his shoulder. Tonight was a cluster-fuck. No other way to say it. It had gone smoothly right up to the point of him reaching the study, what little resistance he met he quickly dealt with, leaving the security guards tied up in the backroom, the security camera's had been hacked allowing them to replay a loop so not to raise suspicion. 

It had been going to well. 

The game changed the moment she had stepped in. Bucky had hidden behind the drape that in turn, hid a door and watched. Praying to whatever god he needed to that she wouldn't see him and raise the alarm. He hadn't needed to worry about that, especially considering she was there for less than legitimate reasons. 

He had watched in silent fascination, his interest piqued, as she moved to the desk and around. Cautiously picking her steps until pausing and vanishing from sight, before reappearing seconds later, three steps further along, the air shimmering like a mirage. She made quick work of the safe, faster than he would have done, but then he would have just used the explosives Stark had supplied them with. He waited until she had the memory stick in her hands, confident that she wasn't there for something else before stepping out. 

It had gone to hell from there. 

She barred her teeth at him, mirroring an animal defending its territory. Slipping in a stance that told him she was ready for a fight should it come to that. Yet despite how he read her body, and the pounding beat of her heart that he could hear across the room, her face gave nothing away with a serene mask. A smile gracing her lips, a twinkle in her eye, as though she liked the challenge he presented. 

They had bantered back and forth, he could hear a trace of accent to him, but she hid it well enough he could pinpoint from where. She stood her ground in front of him, outmanoeuvring him by triggering the alarm. Of course, the guards had opened fire without hesitating, something he wasn't sure she had taken into account. Despite his frustration with her, the irritation that she was delaying his mission, Bucky had no desire to see bullets rip through her body in front of him. Pinning her to the ground was the easiest way to shield her, and if he noticed how easily she fitted in under him, her eyes darkening with things he hadn't seen directed his way for decades and how it stirred thoughts inside him, like how her body curved in all the right places, how provocative her mouth was and how her scent was unlike anything Bucky had smelt before and something he would happily bathe in if he could. 

Bucky saw the exact moment who he was registered across her eyes, his metal hand gripped around hers, pulling her up. He expected fear, but he didn't see that he saw things he couldn't quite understand, and she gave him a new assessing gaze as though she needed to rethink her next action. 

The comment about saving her life was valid, but he hadn't expected the snarled response or the anger blazing in her eyes, and for a moment he felt as though he was looking directly in the sun, the temperature in the room changing the match her mood, glass shattering. She reined it in quicker than a blink of an eye, swallowing her anger and slumping in defeat. 

Bucky hadn't bought it for a second. He knew she would make an escape the first chance she got. He just hadn't expected her method. Hadn't expected the kiss. A searing kiss that had scorched his body, until he was thirsting for more and only she could quench that thirst. He gave as good as he got, and as they had with words, they battled for dominance, a mixture of tongue, teeth and nibbling. 

And then she stepped back, a smirk on her face, memory stick in hand and pushed him out of the door, slamming it in his face and sealing it shut in a way he could get through. And fuck did he try. 

It was only after he dispatched the guards, leaving them unconscious on the floor that he realised she had escaped that he made his way to meet up with Sam and the others. 

Even if it was one hell of a kiss. 

A kiss that left him hungry for more and all he could think about was sinking his cock into her. Spreading her facedown on the bed and taking her from behind with long, driving strokes into her wet heat, or having her ride him, clawing at his body as she forgot everything but the way he made her feel. 

"Buck," Steve said softly, drawing his attention out of his thoughts. Thank god he had enough control of himself to lose it completely.

"There was a woman."

"Was she pretty?" Steve teased, a glint shining in his eyes. 

"Shut up punk, she was enhanced. She has the memory stick," Bucky admitted. 

"What does she look like?"

"She had red hair and blue eyes, 5ft4 if that. Catsuit."

"Catsuit. You got outsmarted by Catwoman?" Sam snorted.

"Fuck off," he grumbled. 

Steve smiled at him, "We will have Tony run through the security feed, see if we can get a lead on her."

"Yeah," he muttered, only half listening as leaned back in his seat on the Quinjet. He was looking forward to tracking her down.

  



End file.
